Like many before me, I am an expert of dieting. Unfortunately, I am also an excellent gainer.
This time is different for me. I'm on track and moving forward with progress. My biggest concern is loosing all this weight only to regain as in the past.
I believe the key is to get the mentality to eat for fuel. I see and understand this more than ever before, thus this time is different for me.
How did you change this mentality of food to fuel vs pleasure?

I disagree with this idea. I enjoy food as much or more than ever. Lately I've really been enjoying big omelettes with bacon, peppers, avocado and sour cream.

But, I can stop eating when I'm full. This is the huge difference in this WOE, at least for me. Eating sugary cereals just made me hungrier. I didn't overindulge because I enjoyed it, it was because one bowl just made me want another--a screwed up feedback loop. Anyway that's how I read it. Everyone is different. But, I've been eating this way for a year now, and I am not struggling with it, and I make it a point to enjoy everything I eat.

Here's where I am: Not every meal/snack/etc has to be a party in my mouth. Sometimes though, I do, but it always a low carb party. Loads of wonderful low carb foods (and treats) can provide excellent sensory gratification.

Cravings are things to be outwitted, but there's no need to think you can't enjoy food.

Thanks for your comments

I'm in the food for fuel camp. I don't have the same physical and emotional attachments I had to food before this LC WOE. I only eat simply to nourish my body. It's an entirely different mindset for me. I'm not saying I don't enjoy what I eat, it's just totally different.

Jo

Hmmm, I think I come down in the middle. I have hjad success with being conscious of enjoying my food -- recognzing the fuel I need, and not wasting the opportunity to eat on anything but what I really want. Additionally, I am conscious of what I need to eat, and work to ensure that I plan that from a fuel stance. It helps (!!)that I am diabetic, makes me more conscious of the stress too much inappropriate food-like substance is placing on my tired pancreas. In order to do this I have had to break habits, such as emotional eating, and the eat it all because it is there tendency. Consciousness and the Virgil Cain method have helped me .

cml201 cml201

I'm definitely one of those who really loves to eat. I truly enjoy my food and seeing it as 'just fuel' would not make me a happy camper.

I've lost and regained a few times prior to this last venture. I've been maintaining my losses since 2005. For me, it was/is about accepting my new way of eating for life. That simple acknowledgment has been key for me in not regaining my weight.

I learned how to cook and found ways to make things just the way I'd enjoy tasting them. For me, its more about savory than sweet and more about tangy/sour, salty.

I also had to learn how to eat and feel for the full feeling. I always used to eat until all food was gone. Now I eat and wait 20 minutes as that's how long it takes for the brain to get the message that your stomach is full.

This might sound negative, but it's my honest perspective:

You can't.

It's not like a drug addiction where you can completely abstain from the substance. You have to make peace with the substance and keep on consuming it with tight restrictions. (And please don't be offended or think that I'm implying that addictive drugs are 'easy' to walk away from; I'm just trying to illustrate a point here.) To me, it's like asking an addict to stop enjoying getting high and just take the drug to manage anxiety. Yeah. Okay. Sounds easy. Not. /o\

Low carb eating is my methadone. It's an imperfect solution. It allows me to live a relatively normal life and - hey, bonus - not be obese and therefore not have others judge me and turn their noses up at me because the results of my addiction are worn for all others to see. But there is no cure, and I disagree with the idea that it's only a sugar/starch/gluten addiction. I've eliminated those from my diet and the voice in my head that tells me to eat non-stop is still there.

It's just easier to ignore its nagging and get on with life.

I just ride it! I can relate to what Nancy and Judy have said. I'm a hedonist. Live fast, die young... though I also have to 'parent' myself and not turn every meal into an all-you-can-eat LC buffet. I often call that voice in my head my inner two-year-old. It doesn't like being told 'no.' I try to channel the problem into something positive as much as I can. I try to cook good food for myself and for my SO. I use cooking and gardening as stress relief; it's my hobby.

One of those problems that are managed, not cured.

Brilliant!
Thank you for these wise words.

Thanks all. Right now, I am fine. Not hungry, in fact needing to make sure I eat enough daily. I am just gathering your experiences for my future when I get tempted or feel sorry for myself for not being able to have....

The words there in bold is what you need to do a lot of work on.
I used to feel like that and I had to change my point of view. Attitude is a choice! Acceptance is key!

I had to learn to say NO! to myself so many times that it became my mantra....NO! That's not my food!

I don't think of food as fuel (as in energy) but I do want to make sure that what goes in my body is doing me a benefit, rather than a disservice. I enjoy eating and I don't want that to change.

I wouldn't have said that a year ago. I thought that enjoying eating is what kept me fat, when in reality it was my sugar addiction that kept me fat. In fact, I enjoy my food much more now than I ever did when I was unable to stop shoving sugar into my face

On every "diet" I've ever been on prior to this one (low carb or otherwise) I never lost the feeling of being "deprived" of foods that I really wanted to eat but couldn't. Those diets were a struggle, even when I was having success losing weight. This time really is different. I don't feel deprived and I enjoy what I'm eating. Now, I rarely even think about the foods that I was desperately longing for not too many months ago. What is the difference? For me, it is a combination of a couple of things...

1) Framing how I eat as a lifestyle change and not a temporary "diet" has really helped. I learned to accept that certain foods are off my plate FOREVER. There are no days off, no "carby Rewards" for good behavior, no "holiday" or "celebration" excuses, and reaching goal weight will not end anything. LC is the new way I have chosen to eat. I don't try to work small portions of high carb foods into my diet, either. No small piece of candy, no 1/2 slice of whole wheat toast. I stick to foods that are low carb with normal portion sizes as much as possible.

2) No Cheating! Getting my head around point 1 could never have happened without me willfully deciding not to cheat, ever. For months into my new WOE, I still missed the old carb-loaded favorites (pizza, bread, candy bars ,etc.). I was not having intense cravings anymore, but I still had fond memories of these foods and still felt deprived to some extent. It was really hard to accept that I would never have regular pizza or bread again. But I did not cheat. I did not even have a taste or a bit. After a few months, the magic started to happen. My attachment to those carby favorites started to fade away. I stopped longing for them. I stopped feeling deprived. I then started seeing these things for what they really are: food that will make me lose control of my appetite and make me fat and unhealthy. The sight and smell of these things don't affect me as they once did. Carby junk is everywhere. It is unavoidable. But it has lost its power over me. This only happened because, for the first time ever, I refused to cheat and stuck with my program.

3) To some extent, being 'scared straight' has helped me do points 1 and 2 above. I started this WOE in February and the following month I was first diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic. That explained a lot. Weight was not my only problem. High blood sugar was doing a number on my body and my health was gradually deteriorating. Within 2 months of starting this diet, I began to feel a lot better. So at the same time I was still fighting off the feelings of deprivation, I started to feel healthy again. I was still as fat as a cow, but I could really tell that my body liked the new way I was eating. I had a second A1C test done about 4 months into my diet and my new score was barely "pre-diabetic" and the doctor told me I was healing myself. It is too bad that I let things get so out of hand. I wish I'd learned these lessons earlier. But that is not how it worked out. I'd have to say that experiencing the rapid and dramatic improvements to my health has been a motivating factor as I've learned to accept and appreciate my new way of eating.

4) Education. I'm actually doing some reading on the topic and not following a 1 page diet plan that I got from a friend. Learning what is happening to me under the hood helps me make good eating decisions. I've definitely learned that we are not all the same and what works for some may not be applicable to me. I've also learned a lot from other members at this website. Some lead by example, and some (unfortunately) show us what not to do.

In the end, I think I'm with MamaSebo. I'm not really a "food is fuel" person. I do like to enjoy what I eat. But I do feel that I used to get far too much pleasure from the food I used to eat. Processed food is engineered make me want it and I was one who wanted it a lot and in huge quantities. I want my food to be good, but I don't need it to send fireworks off in my brain with every bite. So I am mindful of eating this way for my health and daily energy, but I'm going to do what I can to make what I eat taste good. LC food does not need to be exciting, but I doesn't need to be boring, either.

My experience is pretty much like yours. I was served an opened faced sandwich yesterday, on a nice looking piece of toasted sourdough bread. My sister asked, 'that probably doesn't even look good to you anymore'. Ummm, no, actually it looks pretty good, and I'm sure it would taste good. But not that good, and it's simply not worth the consequences. I realized that I've made peace with the idea of never eating a piece of bread again.

For me an important part of the process was learning how it is that that piece of bread messes with my system. If someone tells me, 'that's bad for you', but can't explain the mechanics of why, I just roll my eyes. I have to know how it's bad for me, I have to be able to believe it. Reading good books about metabolic syndrome, along with experiencing some of my own health scares, has really made the difference.

Now it's entirely possible (likely?) that once I've reached my goal I will backslide, this is what past experience suggests. But it is different this time. I feel a sense of relief and closure, a sense that I can live this way, that the sacrifices are trivial compared to what I'm gaining.